Latin is dead.
No one has used it for writing in centuries.
No one has spoken it for a millennia. More.
Right?
Well here’s my question… If Latin is truly dead, then how come we can’t even talk about it without using Latin?
The word “centuries” comes from the Latin centum, meaning 100.
The word “millennia” comes from the Latin mille, meaning 1,000.
In truth, Latin is very much alive. It’s everywhere. And learning Latin can help you in more ways than I can reasonably fit in one blog post.
1. Improve your analytical thinking and puzzle-solving skills
Latin is an inflected language, which means that words have endings to tell us their function. As a result, Latin sentences are like puzzles. You have to search for the individual pieces and figure out how best to put them together. Like this:
This process trains your brain to recognize patterns, zoom out to the bigger picture, and put pieces together based on analytical and deductive reasoning.
In other words, learning Latin will make you better equipped to solve problems in general, even if they have nothing at all to do with the language.
2. Master English grammar (with considerably less headache)
I’ve said it a million times. I learned so much more about English grammar from taking Latin than I ever did in any English class. And I’m not the only one.
Let’s face it… English grammar is confusing and hard to follow. There are a million verb tenses, verb phrases can be three or four words long, and unless you understand exactly what’s going on in the sentence, it’s hard to make sense of its grammatical structure.
Latin, on the other hand, is a system. In fact, it’s so systematic that—if you know the endings and forms well enough—you can often figure out the grammatical structure of a sentence without knowing what any of the words mean.
This is helpful for learning English grammar because, though very different languages, Latin and English share many of the same building blocks. Both languages are guided by verbs and use a combination of subjects, direct objects, etc. to make meaning. Plus, both languages use a mixture of independent and dependent clauses to convey more complex thoughts.
Therefore, once you’re comfortable with the Latin grammar system, you can apply it to English and use it to better understand English sentences.
3. To prepare for law or medical school
Both law and medicine derive an insane amount of their terminology from Latin. This makes Latin a great tool for further understanding important phrases and words in both fields.
| Legal terms from Latin | Latin origin |
|---|---|
| Habeas corpus | From habere (to have) + corpus (body) |
| Subpoena | From sub (under, up to) + poena (penalty) |
| A priori | From a (from) + prior (previous, preceding) |
| Ad litem | From ad (for, at) + litis (lawsuit) |
| Medical terms from Latin | Latin origin |
|---|---|
| Respiration | From spirare (to breathe) + re (again) = breathing again and again |
| Vaccine | From vacca (cow) = original use of cowpox to prevent smallpox |
| Disinfectant | From inficere (to infect) + dis (not, the opposite of) |
| Valve | From valva (door) |
Plus, medicine and biology pull A TON from Latin suffixes and prefixes (like the re in respiration, the dis in disinfectant, and the sub in subpoena).
This means that if you’re familiar with Latin, you’ll have a much easier time understanding and learning new words.
4. To learn other romance languages
Latin didn’t really die. Instead, it evolved and over time, became the romance languages we have today.
Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese… All these language are derived from Latin and therefore, share a lot of common words and grammar patterns.
In fact, the lexical similarity between Latin and most of these romance languages is over 70% percent. This means that over 70% of Italian, Spanish, and French vocabulary comes directly from Latin.
Not only is this insanely cool. It’s also insanely helpful. Here’s why…
If you learn Latin, you’ll already be well on your way to learning any romance language. You’ll have some of the vocab, a good grasp of the grammar structure, and a strong foundation from which to build and learn.
And I’m not just saying this because of the numbers, either. After my first year of Latin, I remember opening up a copy of Dante’s Inferno in the original Italian and I was AMAZED to discover that I could read some of it. I couldn’t put entire sentences together, but I had a basic idea of what was going on. And I’d never learned a scrap of Italian in my life.
All of my understanding came from Latin.
5. To dive deeper into your favorite fantasy series
Modern day fantasy is FULL of Latin.
Harry Potter wouldn’t exist without its spells and creatures, most of which get their names from Latin.
The Mortal Instruments wouldn’t have it’s heart-wrenching ave atque vale without Latin.
Even Sarah J. Maas’s multiverse wouldn’t be the same without the Latin sprinkled through its pages.
Learning Latin is not just good for your education. It can also help you learn more about the books and characters you love. Once you learn Latin, you’ll start to see it everywhere, especially in popular media. And trust me, it will change the way you see the world (and the worlds portrayed in books, movies, even video games).
Here are some of my favorite instances of Latin in modern fantasy:
| Latin | Source | Latin origin |
|---|---|---|
| Umbra mortis | Hunt Athalar’s nickname in the Crescent City series by Sarah J. Maas | From umbra (shadow) + mors (death) ➡️ shadow of death |
| Lidia Cervos | Spy-hunter and deer shifter in Sarah J. Maas’s Crescent City series | The last name Cervos comes from the Latin for deer or stag: cervos, cervī |
| Ave atque vale | Farewell to honor the dead in The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare | From ave (hail) + atque (and) + valeo (farewell/be well) |
| Expecto Patronum | The spell to produce a patronus in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter | From expecto (await, hope for) + patronus (defender, protector) |
| Crucio | Harry Potter spell used for torture | From crucio (to torment, torture) |
Ultimately, tracing these names, spells, and phrases back to their original Latin is a close reading tactic that allows you to gain a much deeper understanding of their implications, purpose, and meaning.
6. To gain a deeper understanding of English literature
Latin is not just in fantasy. It also shows up all over English literature.
Authors like Donna Tartt, James Joyce, and Gabriel García Márquez routinely quote or use Latin to add depth, complexity, and meaning to their stories. Plus, these novels rarely provide translations, which means that it’s up to the reader to find or put together a translation.
This is yet another reason to learn Latin! It will help you tackle the quotes and phrases that show up in some of the world’s most well-known literature without having to look them up or make a note to “come back later” (which, let’s be honest, most of us never do).
Skipping over the Latin in these novels means you’re missing out on fundamental pieces of the story, voice, and writing. But if you learn Latin, you’ll never have to worry about that again.
7. To read original Latin texts for yourself
One of the biggest flexes of learning Latin is being able to read and translate original Latin texts for yourself.
And you might be thinking, why would I need to translate original Latin if there are already plenty of translations out there?
Great question! But, here’s the thing:
1. Not all translations are reliable (and some are drastically different than others). One big reason for this is that some translators adhere more closely to literal, grammatical form while others adhere more closely to meaning (and ignore the form). For example, take a look at these two translations of the same Latin text, the first four lines of Ovid’s Metamorphoses:
The Latin: In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas corpora; di, coeptis (nam vos mutastis et illas) adspirate meis primaque ab origine mundi ad mea perpetuum deducite tempora carmen!
Translation from Loeb Classical Library: My mind is bent to tell of bodies changed into new forms. Ye gods, for you yourselves have wrought the changes, breathe on these my undertakings, and bring down my song in unbroken strains from the world’s very beginning even unto the present time.
Translation from Poetry in Translation: I want to speak about bodies changed into new forms. You, gods, since you are the ones who alter these, and all other things, inspire my attempt, and spin out a continuous thread of words, from the world's first origins to my own time.
Notice how different these two translations are. Sure, they convey the same basic message, but the nitty gritty is pretty different. The subject of the first sentence is different, a ton of the vocab is translated differently, and the Latin animus (”mind” or “soul”) doesn’t even show up in the second translation. Plus, both translations ignore the fact that, grammatically speaking, mutatas (”changed”) can’t modify corpora (”bodies”). Oftentimes, these little differences can have big implications.
Learning Latin will allow you to translate and make meaning for yourself. It will also help you choose which translations to rely on and which to set aside.
2. Latin is a complex language and there are usually about five different ways to translate any given sentence. We have no way to know exactly what writers like Cicero, Ovid, or Vergil were trying to say. We can only rely on context and knowledge of the language to put together the most accurate translation possible.
Because of that, learning Latin will give you a way to interact with the language, authors, and texts written thousands of years ago. It’s entirely possible that, if you learn Latin and sit down to translate Ovid or Vergil, you might come up with a better, more accurate translation than anyone else ever has. We have no way to know. And so, the possibilities are endless. How awesome is that?
Conclusion
Latin is everywhere and there are a million reasons to learn it (that aren’t just about school or your education).
Latin will change the way you look at the world, enhance your problem-solving skills, and give you deeper insight into the things you’re passionate about (be them fantasy novels, video games, or legal dramas).
My interest in Latin began long before I started taking it, when I saw it appear in the books I loved, the vocab I didn’t know, and the songs I had to sing for choir.
It’s my hope that this list will spark your interest and inspire you to dig a little deeper, learn a little more, and follow your passions all the way back into classical antiquity.
With Love and Latin,
Olivia 💖